The word "luxury" has been associated with cruises for so long, even overused, that when you want to describe true luxury, you have to use the word "exceptional," and that's how they describe themselves at Crystal: "exceptional at sea." It's said that something exceptional is something that deviates from the ordinary and occurs rarely…
When major tour operator A&K Travel Group bought the Crystal Cruises and its two ships, it promised to continue offering and improving everything that had made this company a favorite among luxury cruisers for 30 years.
It was a difficult task to accomplish given Crystal's well-known reputation for impeccable service, its close staff-to-guest ratio, and its arguably unparalleled base of completely loyal customers. After spending a few days traveling on the newly renovated Crystal Symphony, it's safe to say that this partnership between A&K and Crystal is a winning formula.
The Symphony doesn't look a day over 30 years old. The renovation saw much of the traditional wooden decor replaced by Italian marble, glass, and fabrics in a much more contemporary style.
Even so, the biggest change was in the number of suites. The company not only renovated the decor and redesigned some rooms, but also, in an effort to enhance the onboard experience, combined single cabins to create larger suites, reducing the number of accommodations by almost a quarter. Today, it has a capacity for 600 passengers.
The expansion of the fleet with two ships of similar dimensions to the current ones has already been announced, followed by an incursion into the expedition market
A suite at the Crystal Symphony has everything you could want, decorated in light and blue tones, including a spacious balcony, marble, fine fabrics, crystal, and a bed you'll never want to get up from. Apparently, at the request of Crystal guests, some suites have retained their more traditional wood decor. Of course, there are also the penthouse and junior penthouse suites, with furnishings and amenities that rival those of the world's finest hotels.
We spent a few days on board enjoying the ship and its excellent cuisine, yes, excellent, exceptional.
Umi Uma is the only Nobu restaurant on a ship, and that alone says it all. But the Nobu experience combined with Crystal service makes for a truly unique evening, and that's what makes it exceptional.
Osteria D'Ovidio is a high-end Italian restaurant named after Manfredi Lefebvre D'Ovidio, one of Crystal's owners. It offers sophistication and excellent Italian cuisine.
But the food, wine pairings, and service are excellent in all the ship's restaurants. The Marketplace, with its indoor and outdoor seating at the stern, is highly recommended, as is Taste, and of course, the Waterside Restaurant, the ship's main restaurant.
I don't want to forget the bars. Many of the most memorable moments on a cruise involve a good drink before or after dinner, and at the Symphony they know how to serve the perfect cocktail to surprise you, or that drink just the way you like it. The right drink in the right glass. It's all about the details, and luxury is in the details.
The ship's expansive public spaces blend seamlessly with the restaurants, spa and gym, pickleball court, library, lounges, theater, nightclub, and putting green. The ship as a whole has a sleek and modern feel, without losing its identity, as seen in the Palm Lounge where afternoon tea is served, the pool with its large, original jacuzzi, and those little hidden gems that make it special, like the Connoisseur Club. But if there's one thing that truly sets Crystal apart, it's the service, and you'll find it genuinely exceptional. It's exactly the kind of personal and (this time) luxurious service that Crystal fans adored and expected, perhaps with some skepticism after the company's dissolution. But with 80 percent of the ship's former, loyal crew back on board, that signature Crystal service model, and a near 1:1 crew-to-passenger ratio, the exceptional service is back.
The new Crystal seeks to expand and evolve the brand, leveraging the company's own global network of luxury travel specialists and alliances with the world's best business partners, to develop a broader list of itineraries, excursions, and pre- and post-cruise options, going even further beyond traditional offerings.
The expansion of the fleet with two ships of similar dimensions to the current ones has already been announced, followed by an entry into the expedition market. We'll have much to discuss in the coming months. Crystal promises to be exceptional.
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